Sad news: Film composer Carl Davis died today
RIPThe family have circulated this message:
CARL DAVIS CBE
(1936-2023)
We are heartbroken to announce that Carl Davis CBE passed away this
morning, following a brain haemorrhage.
We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on
music. A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force
behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation and he
wrote scores for some of the most loved and remembered British
television dramas. He was a conductor and composer of symphonic
works, as well as a notable writer for the ballet.
In 2005 he was awarded a CBE (Hon).
A beloved Father, Grandfather and Husband, Carl married the actress
Jean Boht in 1970. They have two daughters, Hannah and Jessie and
three grandchildren, Molly, Fred and Alice.
The family would like to send their grateful thanks to the paramedics
who assisted Carl and the Neurological ICU Team at the John Radcliffe
Hospital in Oxford.
Carl wrote many film and TV scores. He also collaborated with Paul McCartney on Liverpool Oratorio and served for a while as principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic.
Brooklyn born, Carl first came to England to work on the satirical TV show That Was the Week That Was.
The films he scored include The Bofors Gun (1968), Up Pompeii (1971), The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), Scandal (1989), The Great Gatsby (2000), Mothers & Daughters (2004) and The Understudy (2008).
On television he received greatest exposure with a score for the Jeremy Isaacs series, The World at War.
photo: Trevor Leighton
UPDATE: The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic remembers Carl here.
RIP Maestro Carl. Your legacy will live on.
Very sad. A capable, classically trained composer who also did a lot for other people’s film music.
Not every critic was kind to him – Richard Morrison wrote in The Times in 1986: “The last time I saw Carl Davis in charge of an orchestra he had cut up some
rather revered music by Beethoven into small bits, pasted them together in a different order, added a liberal sprinkling of repeat marks, and was using this papier mache masterpiece to accompany an interminable silent movie called Napoleon.
Now he has been appointed associate conductor of the London Philharmonic
Orchestra. One trusts that his new responsibilities will not include
wielding the scissors too often on Beethoven. So our only problem is what he does with his baton.
This was the blandest music-making I have heard since I inadvertently caught
the James Last Orchestra on television.”
Well, that was Richard Morrison so what do you expect?
Carl Davis’ score for ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ was stunning; a haunting and memorable addition to an excellent film. RIP.
It was a great privilege to know and work with Carl Davis who was not only a consummate musician and a gifted composer, but also one of the kindest and most charming of men – qualities that are rare among conductors. He was a versatile composer very much in the mould of his fellow Americans, Bernstein and Previn. His enthusiasm for projects and willingness to accept the ideas of others made working with him a joy. RIP dear Carl. There won’t be another like you. Thank you for being my friend.
Snarl (as he was affectionately known to those under his stick…) a pioneer of outrageous colourful dressing up of conductors for pops gigs & a musical maestro with an amazing knowledge to share.
The likes of him are rare and he will be missed by many.
Very sad to hear this news.
I played his Variations on a Polish Beggar’s Song commissioned for the Sascha Lasserson violin competition in 1983 at the Wigmore Hall.
A delightful man and an excellent musician.
Very sad news. Carl was one of the most talented and hardworking composer/conductors of the past 50 years. He was great fun to work with, and a total professional. And those flamboyant costumes! RIP Carl- we will miss you.
A sad time indeed! Carl will always be remembered for his virtuouscity and incredible versatility in all modes of creative musical expression. And his legendary collaboration Paul McCartney is still amazing! RIP.
“his legendary collaboration Paul McCartney is still amazing!”
Beg to differ.
He will be remembered for his film music, IMO.
Among many, treasured Carl Davis memories, I love the disc of William Walton’s music that he made with the LPO, his excellent recording of the West Side Story Symphonic Dances with the RLPO and enjoyed his conducting of Street Scene with ENO in the 1980s. Then there are all those brilliant TV themes… What a star he was!
So sorry to learn of his passing. I knew him firstly for that excellent TV series, “The World at War”. I would rush home from college classes in time to see it and his music was always excellent. It exalted an already exceptional documentary series. May he R.I.P.
Fond memories of his score for Abel Gance’s c6-hour epic, Napoleon. I saw it live a couple of times. Wonderful.
I first came to know Carl Davis’s work via the many scores he composed and conducted for silent films and documentaries about the silent era, often working with Kevin Brownlow and David Gill. I was especially impressed by ‘The Big Parade’, ‘Napoleon’, and ‘Safety Last’–though so much accomplishment makes singling out individual items difficult.
We owe an inestimable debt to Brownlow, Gill, and Davis for bringing silent films back to ‘life’ just when they were being forgotten (and lost).
Yes, I too enjoyed his music to accompany Kevin Brownlow’s wonderful ‘Hollywood’ series on Channel 4 (and other silent films). Mind you, not long after, I went to a Viennese concert he conducted in Nottingham, and in a ‘Waltzes from round the world’ selection, it was rather obvious that, while his ‘Hollywood’ waltz that served as the theme tune for the series is a glorious tune, it sounded rather 2-dimensional compared to Richard Rodney Bennett’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ waltz which followed it.
Who can forget his contribution with Kevin Brownlow in bringing the restored Abel Gance movie Napoleon back to our screens. His music and performances of his score greatly added to its revival as a classic
And Pride and Prejudice 1995 – never bettered!
I have very much enjoyed his silent movie scores.
RIP
Not to be forgotten is his excellent score for Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time.
We LOVE his fantastic score to “Oliver’s Travels”…one of the greatest series ever to be on television……..
Very sad.
National newpapers, even GB news and The Daily Mirror, running this story.
The BBC Culture section isn’t though : more concerned with the antics of Lizzo and Cardi B.
What has become of the BBC?
About 40 years ago I had the pleasure and privilege of playing the horn in the’ Wren Orchestra’ at the Fairfield Hall in the 1st performance of Carl’s SYMPHONY, conducted by its composer. The next time I played his music was in the ‘Cranford’ TV series. What a superb musician he was, and a lovely guy too. RIP Carl Davis.
RIP- great composer & lovely man by all reports
Saw him conduct the LSO in London in 1990, playing his own terrific score to Keaton’s “The General” as the film was screened above the orchestra (in the Barbican). Wonderful experience; the memory of it has never left me. It helps that the film is also amongst the greatest ever made!